The Economist, Tarot and Astrology

When The Economist magazine published its now-famous 'Tarot Cards' cover, The World in 2017, it was immediately seen as an accidental prediction by many psychics. It was illustrated by Joe McLaren (thank you to readers who found his credit) and on his Facebook page, he comments

"The Economist's 'World in 2017' launched yesterday- an annual magazine that predicts all sorts of things that might come to pass in 2017. As you might imagine, most of it makes rather grim reading - it's sort of the opposite of the Beano annual."

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Hi Jess, Surely, The Magician is ruled by Mercury, and air sign, Gemini. Its as you know a major arcana card (a TRUMP card), and as he thinks the sun shines on him all the time, maybe its not Cancerian at all. The first thing I thought of of Eastern Bloc housing , his wife comes from that kind of housing, and of course its his birthday in June. Any use???

Thank you Jessica for another first class article. What a wonderful way to start the week! I am interested in your comment about astrology and the tarot not being used to predict death as those are the rules. I had thought in ancient times both were used for those purposes and currently when celebrities die you often can read a retrospective analysis of their chart explaining why according to planetary alignments. What is most curious though is who did this cover and how is it staying such a secret?!!

Hi Jessica. Long time, no speak :) Great article…as always. And very fascinating. My profession is Tarot Readers and in traditional Tarot, The Magician is ruled by Mercury which in turn rules Gemini and the huge yellow orb behind him is traditionally The Sun. In keeping up with your articles, I believe I read somewhere on your site, that Trump was rumored to be a Gemini, but of course, as we’ve been shown, nothing about Trump is real. If he is a Gemini, then his behavior most certainly represents that of The Twins, as very much of “bi-polar” nature…not to… Read more »

jessica…no need to publish this, but just between you and I, the last 3 cards are quite compelling. The Death Card could be one of two things: 1. The ouster of the South Korean President. 2. The death of Kim Jong Un – The Red Sun or the red Son. I would lean more towards the 2nd, as the South Korean President being ousted is big, but not a huge major factor for US/Korean relations. The Magician and the Wheel I’ve explained so the last card in the series I feel The Star card might relate to the the G-8/G-20… Read more »

What a fascinating and intriguing read….thank you Jessica. I’m intrigued about the infinity symbol and possible numeral 30 in the Magician Card. 30 – the number of Spirit, divine perfection, unlimited creative expression Infinity symbol – perfection, dualism, limitless and endlessness and a figure of 8 on it’s side. The 8th Tarot card – Strength shows the infinity symbol and a woman with a lion..physical strength is not a match for spiritual or inner strength. But the card is also one of boundaries and limitations…knowing when to take control or when to give in. The number 8 stands for power,… Read more »

I think the Magician is Justin Trudeau, PM of Canada. Canada is a ‘Cancer’ becoming a confederation independent of the UK on July 1, 1867. The Magician is wearing red which is a color strongly associated with the Canadian Flag and other symbols related to Canada. The sceptre is held by a ruler or sovereign. The figure in the card looks youthful, fit and healthy. The houses could be symbolic in regards to the immigration situation, with red roof tops – again Canada. The machine could represent manufacturing or jobs. The VR – Canada’s current policies and vision for tolerance… Read more »

Hi Jessica, I can see a story unfolding through those cards and it s one of warning rather than prediction. The third person on the Wheel of Fortune is the Dutch right wing candidate, Geert Wilders (you can see the Dutch flag and his longish grey hair). All three represents the key stories of the next European elections in Holland, France and Germany in September. But I think the meaning here is in the fact the three of them are all equally tied up on the Wheel of Fortune. Equally helpless and obsolete in what is to come? The World… Read more »

Hi Jess, What a fabulous article, again. It’s really captured everyone’s imagination, including mine, which is as over-active as ever. So I’d better just confine myself to the intriguing 9th July Magician card, as this is a read so bear with me. I think we may well see a major breakthrough in the field of quantum physics on this date and it may well be related to the CERN accelerator or some similar device concerned with the quest for the infinitely small. On 9th July there are a number of astrological aspects to consider. It is interesting the Magician card… Read more »

The comments are fascinating. Thank you Jessica for initiating the trains of thought. I still think the Magician is the Dalai Lama (red robe, vajra staff et al). Vajrayana Buddhist visualisation is after all considered to be synonymous with virtual reality (3D simulation) here in the West. The Dalai Lama has recently been quoted as saying that Western women will save the world. So maybe the Tarot card represents the empowerment of women and the home as the foundation and source of all spiritual development. He also thinks Trump and Putin will form a unique bond – two circles in… Read more »

Hi Jessica. Those houses/structures coming out of the box…And I mentioned that it could be some reference to governmental departments hocus-pocus…. The White House just announced a new EO coming to “reorganize” the Executive Branch.

Now I am getting carried away but……. Hilary Clinton is the ‘hermit’ (at the moment) and did want to stop TTIP (the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment partnership between the US and the EU) which is the ostensible reason for the protest march. The bottom right corner of the card depicts New York being ‘cut off’ (metaphorically speaking). I read where Hilary might stand as mayor of New York later this year, which could indicate some major conflicts between New England and the rest of the US. Since the stock exchange is based in NY, I would expect those conflicts to… Read more »

Lol… OMG, Jessica. Watching a story about Deutsche Bank here in America. They just paid 7.2 billion dollar fine to Fed govt for mortgage swindle. What makes this so weird is the they were also busted by New York state In 630 million dollar fine for Russian money laundering. Now, the guy who prosecuted the Federal case, was Preet Bharaha who was just unceremoniously fired from Justice Department by Trump, yesterday. The connection? Trump has loans out to Deutsche Bank… Those houses coming out of the box just keep coming up. The Magician. He can not only create reality using… Read more »

Fascinating, almost spine-chilling, Jessica. Full of admiration for your skill in analysis and insight. Re the Wheel of Fortune. Surely the 3rd figure is Geert Wilders, and the election in Netherlands is tomorrow. He has made it clear if he can get a majority, he will be having a referendum to take the Netherlands out of the EU. So that card looks like a continuous process starting now until at least September.

Eight is an interesting number and there’s more “eight” in those cards. I see four couples. The tower – the Star; judgement – the wheel; the world – death; the Hermit – the magician. (Even involves a bit causationism here? ) It reminds me of North – South; west – east; northwest – southeast; southwest – northeast. What if you put these eight cards in to a circle accordingly? Dose it give any new insight?

Dear Jessica What a fascinating discussion we are all having on a global scale. I don’t know much about the symbolism going on in these tarot cards, so I have just done a bit of research online regarding the magician card. The symbol above President Trumps’ head is a Möbius band – a mathematical symbol for an entity with only 1 surface. They are mostly seen in conveyor belts due to the lack of friction. They have a mathematical value of 0. There is a conveyor belt in the card with presumably Trumps property portfolio/business empire going round. The lettering… Read more »

This is fascinating! Thanks for posting it. I couldn’t help but ‘see’ own take on these. My two cent’s worth… Tower – there’s a note on the door which made me think this is a Trump’ executive order unexpectedly unleashing the old divisions. World – exposing how the elite use portrayals, image, words, ‘facts’ and masks. Hermit – east watching anti global mobs in the west, transforming nexus of power stealthily. Death – end of the era which began with Hiroshima and Nagasaki (maybe replaced by climate as threat). Wheel of Fortune – the real shock will be in Germany.… Read more »

What I see in this is as follows: 1) beginning with the tower, the death (annihilation) of the old world order; (+) supported by the death card (transformation- Scorpio). As a tarot reader and psychic I sense the introduction of a new currency that is non monetary, the rise of robots (the houses being produced in an automated factory like machine – potential dehumanisation of person, home and environment if we aren’t careful; the 3D and 30 represents the three levels of existence – body, emotions and spiritual and on all levels the upcoming transformation will impact us; I also… Read more »

Adding to my last comment, I wanted to highlight that the Wheel of Fortune card highlights the ‘harvest’ the magician creates could go very well or potentially be a disaster according to whether he takes the advice of the hermit and acts ‘consciously’ as opposed to blindly ( aka the blindfolded magician) and the stars card represents us making the leap in the age of Aquarius (from the Age of Pisces); it heralds the transition of Uranus into Taurus – May 2018-2025) and the symbol of ‘hope’ for humanity. But at the flip side of coin warns us not to… Read more »

Today there are elections in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders has his natal Moon and Jupiter at 18 degrees of Aries today transiting Moon and Jupiter at 21 degrees of Libra, also nearby we have transiting Uranus at 22 Aries, Transiting Vesta is at 20 Cancer conjunct his North Node at 18 degrees of Cancer. Transiting North Node is conjunct his MC at 3/4 degrees of Virgo. This reminds of the French Revolution.

I think the man on the Wheel is Gert Wilders….looks like him too. As well, he is beside the Netherlands flag, (horizontal red, white and blue colors as opposed to vertical red, white and blue of France’s flag next to Marine Le Pen).

Let me add some ideas. The Tower maybe a financial system. The flag on the left may represent China. It may also represent communism and the lightning being a North Korean missile issue. Two differing parties with socialism/communism on the “left” of the card. The hermit card shows TTIP on a flag so clearly highlights a people rising up against globalism. The death card which may show a rising japanese sun could relate to Fukushima as the dead fish may relate to recent reports of marine life disappearing with links to radiation. I feel its important to avoid being clouded… Read more »

Hi Jessica This is my take on the Economist Tarot. The Tower = Sudden unexpected change or loss, but anything built on firm foundations will last or survive. Interesting in this card to me are the two crowds separated by the Tower – the Communist flag and the Christian cross. This suggests to me that there is a balance in America of the separation of Church and state, and that this balance is starting to shift through the introduction of “Obamacare”. I thought without looking at the picture too hard that it was an Islamic moon, but then saw that… Read more »

Hi Jessica, I hope you are well. When I look at The Magician, I see justice is blind in the gesture, and with the VR headset. I see the magician as Christopher Steele, who wrote the dossier that’s created quite a stir. You mention the clues are Cancerian, and Christopher Steele is a Cancer, June 24, 1964, Aden, Yemen. The Magician being ruled by Mercury, and the sign of Gemini, the duality of the VR headset is the blindfold on lady justice and hi-tech spying. Spying is a form of virtual reality since the spy is a three dimensional being… Read more »

Dear Jessica Could you please help in regards to renewing my Membership. For the past 2 years, I had membership to your website and recently expired. I have tried numerous times to renew my membership, I have received links which have unfortunately not worked, and I’ve cancelled my subscription in hope that I could renew my membership but this has worked either and no avail. Could you please help in regards to this matter ASAP. Thanking you for your help :-)

When I look at these cards I don’t see one event, I see themes. Just like the Fools progress . If the artist was channeling then it’s interesting how he has substituted some images for his own and altered others. The Tower has acquired a door with what lookits like a parchment nailed to it. The Cold War is declared – its on again. Russia and the. Christian world are at war. Very recent news seems to support this. Judgement has been changed. It’s no longer the internal awakening of the person/ Soul. It’s the world de facto, Trump is… Read more »

Hi Jessica. Hope you are well. Been thinking…Now that Dutch elections are over and Greet Wilders is a non-factor, I can only think of one other country with a similar flag…Hungary. The Hungarian President is Viktor Orban born 31 May, 1963. Twice elected, first 1998-2002 and again in 2010 to present date. He is *also* the leader of the National Conservative Fidesz party, a position he has *also* twice from 1993-2000 and from 2003 to present. Hungary sits right next to Ukraine but it is his political views and “associations” that I think might be significant. According to Wikipedia: “Orbán… Read more »

Interesting post! Very intriguing indeed, read together with the post you have about the US. Just saw your Twitter post about the UK and the flip flopping of the sterling pound. Any more insight on this please? Trying to plan a good time to convert some currency to have a holiday there this year :)

Hi J Maybe VR is Trump . . . Very Rude, Very Ruthless, (:-?) The Dictionary says: VR could refer to “viceroy” – defined as: 1 – “a person appointed to rule a country or province as the deputy of the sovereign: 2 – a brightly marked American butterfly, Limenitis archippus, closely mimicking the monarch butterfly in coloration. ALSO: a governor of a colony, country, or province who acts for and rules in the name of his sovereign or government related adjective viceregal So could refer to the American VP (who knows what horse-trading got yet ANOTHER Bush in the… Read more »